Weekend project update

This was a very productive weekend for boat projects.

• On Friday I picked up a spinnaker pole. It's exactly the right length, which is pretty amazing. I need to swap out the wires to the topping lift bridle with Amsteel 1/8'', and then it'll be ready. Also, there is no bridle for a foreguy, so I'm probably going to bolt an eye to the opposite side of the topping lift bridle. Hmmm, alternatively I could through bolt two eyes on opposite sides and call it done. That might be the best way to do this...
• I discovered a spinnaker halyard and topping lift in the boat's stores. This is fantastic, because line costs a lot and I was going to delay buying spinnaker lines for a while. That means we only need spin sheets at this point, and then I can run the lines through the mast -- internal halyards ftw!
• Yesterday Dan and I installed the newly bought Lewmar 8 winches on the cabintop. It was a painstaking job: there are 5 holes per winch, and we wanted everything to be exactly right -- the bolts straight, the winches symmetric. In the end, after much over-engineering, I think we succeeded! They look fabulous! Now I need to buy them new covers.
• I took off the old genoa winches to refurbish them. They are the weirdest winches I've ever seen, so I'll take some pics of the process. This will be my evening project this week.
• I cut out three sections of the vinyl liner, the two sections under the shroud pins (no chainplates on this boat!), and the section under the cockpit on starboard, that a bunch of wiring terminating in the "electrical panel" runs under. I feel much better being able to readily inspect all those spots.
• I cleaned the headliner and interior joinery.
• I topped off the battery, but then we used lights at night, so I need to do it again this weekend. The battery lives in the lazarette, next to the gas tank, so I have to take one or the other out before I attach the charging leads. It's a hassle, and we'll move the battery forward when we redo the electrics.